The temporal authority of Islam, which is theoretically
supposed to have been continued without break even during this period,
was then in delegation with the Memluk Sultans of Egypt and other
Mussulman princes.
The _last_ phase is that of the Ottoman Caliphate.
As nearly all modern arguments respecting the Caliphate appeal to
examples in the earliest period, it will be well to consider the origin
of its institution and the political basis of Islam itself. Mohammedan
doctors affirm that the Apostle of God, Mohammed (on whose name be
peace), when he fled from Mecca, did so not as a rebellious citizen but
as a pretender to authority. He was by birth a prince of the princely
house of the Koreysh, itself the noblest tribe of Hejaz, and his
grandfather had been supreme ruler in Mecca. He established himself,
therefore, with his companions in exile as head of an independent
political community, following in this the ancient custom of Arabia
where sections constantly cut themselves off from the parent tribe and
form new nations under the separate leadership of one or another member
of their princely families. Islam, therefore, was from its commencement
a political as well as a religious body, and while Mohammed preached to
his disciples as a prophet, he also gave laws to them as their king and
governor.
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